Ranchis the most popular salad dressing in the United States.
Over 143 million Americans used the dressing in 2020, according toStatista.
It makes a great dip for veggies or potato chips.
Photos: The brands. Design: Eat This, Not That!
When done right, it’s a creamy, tasty dressing with a variety of spices.
It’s an iconic part of American cuisine.
To conduct this taste test, I purchased 10 popular ranch dressings and judged them on looks and taste.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
All ranch dressings were sampled on the same day, and each was judged on its own merits.
I also considered the price and nutritional value of the dressings.
Walden Farms Ranch Dressing
Any dressing advertised as keto-friendly is an instant turn-off.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
When I looked at the label, I wondered howthis dressinghad no calories or fat!
All this nothing cost $5.69.
The look:This ranch looked like a gelatinous blob of goo.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
I did not want to eat this.
The taste:This dressing is so jelly-like that it would not even cling to a spinach leaf.
I could not detect any taste, and I just didn’t want any more of it.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
This dressing cost $6.99.
The look:Chosen Foods ranch had a darker, off-white color and visible spices.
The taste:This dressing was too thin for dipping and tasted watery.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
It had some tang, but I did not want to eat it.
Rating:1/10
Primal Kitchen Ranch Dressing & Marinade
This ranch dressingis also made with avocado oil.
This dressing sold for $7.99.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
The look:The dressing was darker in color than many of the others I sampled.
It had lots of visible spices and a very thick, gelatinous appearance.
The taste:This dressing tasted more like Caesar than ranch.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
It was overwhelmingly tangy, and the consistency was very jelly-like, which was unappealing.
It was on sale for $4.39.
The look:The Kraft ranch was very white, so much so that it almost looked like mayo.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
I saw a few spices, but not many.
The taste:This dressing had some tanginess but lacked that special zip.
Overall, it was bland and reminded me more of mayo than ranch.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
Rating:3/10
Wish-Bone Ranch Dressing
Wish-Bone dressingcame in a big bottle and it poured out easily.
The large size and very white color made me think that this dressing was very basic.
This dressing was on sale for $3.49.
Photo: Ronnie Koenig / Eat This, Not That!
The look:The consistency of this dressing appeared a little thin.
It was white, and I couldn’t detect many spices.
I would put this dressing in the same category as Kraft.
It was OK but nothing special.
The look:When I finally got the bottle bring up the dressing looked creamy and appealing.
The color was slightly off-white and dotted with spices.
The taste:This ranch was very tangy.
The dressing had a good consistency, but the flavor was unremarkable.
It looked like the classic ranch we all know and love.
This dressing was on sale for $2.49.
The look:This dressing was white but creamy looking and dotted with lots of spices.
This looked like a dressing I would love to dip some veggies into.
The taste:I can see why people like this dressing.
Still, I would put this out with veggies at a party.
I was brown, probably from the addition of bacon.
The taste:This was a tasty dressing, but the bacon overwhelmed it.
It didn’t taste like traditional ranch, and the saltiness eclipsed any other spices.
It’s yummy, but the bacon defeats the whole dipping ranch in vegetables thing.
The look:This thick dressing poured easily out of the bottle.
It was off-white and dotted with spices and visible flecks of carrot.
The taste:This is a really good ranch dressing.
It was thick and delicious and had a tang that was different from the others in a good way.
My only criticism was that it was too heavy on the buttermilk.
But, one other brand got the balance better.
This dressing cost $4.79.
The look:This ranch dressing was slightly darker in color than many of the others I sampled.
There were big, visible spices, and it looked homemade.
The taste:This ranch was downright delicious.
It was tangy but not overly so, and the consistency was perfectly creamy and dippable.
I want to take a bath in this.
